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The Effects of Ornamented Prose Style on Ottoman Historiography: the Târih-I Ebü’L-Feth [History of the Father of Conquest] by Tursun Bey

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The Effects of Ornamented Prose Style on Ottoman Historiography: the Târih-I Ebü’L-Feth [History of the Father of Conquest] by Tursun Bey Public power in Europe : studies in historical transformations / edited by James S. Amelang, Siegfried Beer (Thematic work group. States, legislation, institutions ; 1) 320.94 (21.) 1. Società e Stato - Europa 2. Europa - Storiografia I. Amelang, James S. II Beer, Siegfried CIP a cura del Sistema bibliotecario dell’Università di Pisa This volume is published, thanks to the support of the Directorate General for Research of the European Commission, by the Sixth Framework Network of Excellence CLIOHRES.net under the contract CIT3-CT-2005-00164. The volume is solely the responsibility of the Network and the authors; the European Community cannot be held responsible for its contents or for any use which may be made of it. Volumes published (2006) I. Thematic Work Groups I. Public Power in Europe: Studies in Historical Transformations II. Power and Culture: Hegemony, Interaction and Dissent III. Religion, Ritual and Mythology. Aspects of Identity Formation in Europe IV. Professions and Social Identity. New European Historical Research on Work, Gender and Society V. Frontiers and Identities: Mapping the Research Field VI. Europe and the World in European Historiography II. Transversal Theme I. Citizenship in Historical Perspective III. Doctoral Dissertations I. F. Peyrou, La Comunidad de Ciudadanos. El Discurso Democrático-Republicano en España, 1840-1868 Cover: Imaginary Architecture, fresco, Ist Century B.C., Villa di Poppea, Oplontis, Italy © 2003 Photo Scala, Florence - Ministery Beni e Attività Culturali. © Copyright 2006 by Edizioni Plus – Pisa University Press Lungarno Pacinotti, 43 56126 Pisa Tel. 050 2212056 – Fax 050 2212945 [email protected] www.edizioniplus.it - Section “Biblioteca” ISBN 88-8492-401-4 Manager Claudia Napolitano Editing Francesca Petrucci Informatic assistance Michele Gasparello The Effects of Ornamented Prose Style on Ottoman Historiography: the Târih-i Ebü’l-Feth [History of the Father of Conquest] by Tursun Bey Kenan İnan Karadeniz Technical University Osmanlı Sarayı on dördüncü yüzyıldan itibaren İran ve Anadolu’da yetişmiş protokol, vergi sistemleri ve yargı alanında bilgi sahibi bir çok ilim adamına ev sahipliği yapmıştır. Bursa’da Farsça olarak kaleme alınmış erken tarihli eserler, Osmanlılar’ın devlet yönetimi açısından Selçukluları ve İlhanlıları taklit ettiklerini göstermektedir. Tursun Bey, süslü nesir yazıcılığını Osmanlı Sarayındaki vazifesi sırasında öğrenmiştir. Eseri Tarih-i Ebü’l- Feth, 1444-1488 yılları arasındaki hadisleri sistematik olarak anlatan bir kronik olmaktan ziyade, II. Mehmed ve ithaf edildiği II. Bayezid’in ilk sekiz yıllık hakimiyet dönemini anlatan bir medhiyyedir. Tursun Bey’in tarih yazma tarzının kökleri Cüveyni’nin Tarih-i Cihangüşa’sına kadar gider. Eserin girişi siyasetname literatürü özelliklerini taşımaktadır. Tursun Bey, bir tarihçi olarak katib-i tebdir diye bilinen devlet adamları zümresine dahil edilebilir. Bu kişiler, mevkileri gereği Osmanlı Devleti’nin siyasetini belirleyen devlet adamlarıyla birlikte çalışmış ve tecrübelerini kaleme alarak devlet yönetiminde başkalarına örnek olmayı hedeflemişlerdir. Tursun Bey eserinin girişinde yer verdiği ideal toplum anlayışını İranlı meşhur filozof Tusi’den almış ve bu şekilde sultanların toplum içindeki üstünlüklerini haklı göstermeye çalışmıştır. Tursun Bey’in bu yaklaşımına onun hayatında bizzat tecrübe ettiği bir takım hadiseler de sebep olmuş olabilir. O, gençliğinde, 1443-1448 yılları arasında Osmanlı-Macar savaşlarına, 1463-1479 yılları arasında doğu ve batıdan Osmanlı Devleti’ne yöneltilen tehlikelere ve II. Mehmed’in vefatından sonra meydana gelen karışıklıklara şahit olmuştur. Tursun Bey’in medhiyye tarzı II. Mehmed’in siyasi, askeri faaliyetleri ve başarılarıyla daha iyi örtüşürken, oğlu II. Bayezid’in siyasi ve askeri faaliyetlerine uygun düşmemektedir. II. Mehmed’in hayatı boyunca karşı karşıya kaldığı birkaç başarısızlık Tursun Bey tarafından zafer veya kader olarak nitelenirken, II. Bayezid’in sefer yapmadaki isteksizliği ve zaferlerinin azlığı Tursun Bey’i sıkıntıya sokmuştur. Yazarın sultanı haklı gösterme çabası bu hadiselerin daha fazla dikkat çekmesini sağlamıştır. Tursun Bey’in medhiyyesindeki kararsızlığı ve zayıflıkları Târih-i Ebü’l-Feth’i edebi açıdan bir başarısızlık olarak nitelemeyi güçleştirmektedir. Eser kaleme alındıktan sonra geçen yüzyıldan önce ilk defa Kemalpaşazade tarafından kullanılmıştır. Ancak bu tarzın Türkçe’deki ilk misali olması eserdeki bir takım aksaklıkları tabii kılmaktadır. Tursun Bey edebi tarzından uzaklaştıkça ayrıntıya girmekte ve bizlere gerçek tarihi bilgiyi vermektedir. Historiographic Approaches 126 Kenan İnan INTRODUCTION It is well known that many of the general histories of the Ottoman house were com- posed in Bayezid II’s time. Aşıkpaşazade, Ruhi, Neşri, Mehmed Konevi, Kıvami, Sarıca Kemal and Tursun Bey were all historians who concluded their works with the events of 1484-85. The first and foremost reason for this unusually intense activity was no doubt Sultan Bayezid II’s desire to see such works written, and the ulema [learned men] of his time responded to it. It is also known that, unsatisfied with the current histories of his house, Bayezid II gave orders for two great münşis [prose composers] of his time, Idris in Persian, Ibn Kemal in Turkish, to write this history again1. The first demonstrated that Ottoman history could be recorded in Persian as elegantly and grandiloquently as the history of other dynasties had been, the second showed that the Turkish language was now an adequate vehicle for the same rhetorical devices2. Bayezid represented a reactionary policy in all political, social, and legal fields in con- trast to the Mehmed the Conqueror. In all the above-mentioned works, Bayezid is depicted primarily as a just and law-abiding ruler with the mission of consolidating the large conquests effected by his predecessor. Not only did reaction to the Conqueror’s policies characterize the compilations made under Bayezid II, but also the conscious- ness of having established a universal Muslim empire in competition for supremacy with the Mamluk and Persian states in the East required a new evaluation of Ottoman history at that time3. It is clear that Sasanian Iran substantially influenced the governmental foundations of Islam. For that reason, it would be reasonable to suppose that the earliest Islamic manuals for chancery officials were modelled on Iranian versions. The activity of Ira- nian secretaries in the early Islamic chanceries led to the development of Persian inşâ [art of letter writing] literature. With the development of the classical Persian literary language in the 10th century, Persian manuals for letter writing must also have been produced. The Ottomans in the 14th century must have had in their palace many learned men who were well acquainted with the protocol, chancery practice, and taxation systems of the Mongol period in Islamic Iran and Anatolia. This was formulated in several manuals written in Persian. A good example is the famous Persian Saâdetname [work of happiness] written around 707/1307 by ‘Alâ’ al-Dîn-i Tabrîzî, showing the govern- mental and fiscal arrangement of the Ilkhanids, and available in a copy completed in Bursa in 815/1412-3. It is clear from the early date of this guide that the Ottomans were imitating the administrative foundations of the Seljuqs and Ilkhanids. At about the same time the Ottoman writer Ahmed-i Dâ-i was writing his Teressül [calmness and gentleness] (before 820/1417), the first guide to letter writing in the Turkish lan- guage. The next known manual is Menâhicü’l-İnşâ [methods of letter writing] (before 884/1479). Later, in about 893/1487, Hüsamzâde Efendi wrote his Mecmua-i İnşâ [assembled book of letter writing]. During the reign of Selim I (d. 1520), Mahmud bin Edhem Amasya’vi wrote his Gülşen-i İnşâ [the rose garden of letter writing]4. The Effects of Ornamented Prose Style on Ottoman Historiography 127 THE TARIH-I EBÜ’L-FETH [HISTORY OF THE FATHER OF CONQUEST] BY TURSUN BEY Tursun Bey, like the 16th century Ottoman historians Selaniki5 and Ali6, was an expert in financial and chancery affairs. He maintained that during his forty years of serving in government he acted as Divan Katibi7 [Secretary in the Imperial Council], Anadolu Defterdarı [Financial Secretary in Anatolia], Anadolu Defter Kethüdalığı [Keeper of the Timar Registers in Anatolia], Defterdar8 [Secretary of Finance], and that he also served as Yazıcı [Registrar] in the registrations of houses, fields, and vineyards of Con- stantinople after its conquest9. Whereas the language of the three contemporary ‘popular’ historians (Aşıkpaşazâde, Neşri, and Oruç) is simple Turkish10, Tursun Bey’s syntax and vocabulary are heavily influenced by Arabic and Persian, and the entire work composed in an elaborate inşâ prose interspersed with Turkish, Arabic, and Persian verses, and verses of the Quran. Another characteristic of Tursun Bey’s History is that he frequently uses sentences compounded from Arabic and Persian syntax and vocabulary, which he then translates into plain Turkish, after the word yani [that is to say]. In terms of these peculiarities, Tursun Bey’s History is close to the slightly later Tevârih-i Âl-i Osman [The Histories of Exalted Ottomans] by Kemal Paşazâde, which was also written in Bayezid II’s time. Tursun Bey’s Târîh-i Ebü’l-Feth11 is not a systematic chronicle of events but essentially a panegyric on the reigns of Mehmed II12 and of its dedicatee Bâyezid II.13 It belongs to a genre of history writing
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